By Amy M. McClain on February 27, 2015 Posted in Community Development,Policy,Senior Housing,Supportive ServicesTwo recent news stories highlight a possible surge in the development of housing in high cost rental markets like New York and Washington, DC. A New York Times article and NPR story featured approaches to living in small housing units, or micro units, as a means of providing an affordable alternative to high rent living. In New York, the first batch of prefabricated… Continue Reading

By Sana M. Din on December 9, 2014 Posted in Fair Housing,Senior Housing,Supportive ServicesDuring one of the sessions at Ballard Spahr’s Ninth Annual National Housing Symposium, Mara Blitzer from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) discussed federal housing resources for aging Americans with a focus on HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program. Ms. Blitzer explained that Section 202 is the federal government’s… Continue Reading

By Mary Grace Folwell on October 30, 2014 Posted in Policy,Senior HousingHarvard Joint Center for Housing Studies recently released a report entitled Housing America’s Older Adults, which highlighted several issues: High housing costs resulted in older adults to skimp on other necessities, including food. Most housing does not include basic accessibility features, making it harder for older adults to age comfortably at home. When older adults… Continue Reading

By Mary Grace Folwell on September 25, 2014 Posted in Fair Housing,Policy,Senior HousingThis past weekend I attended an open house for Mary’s House for Older Adults, a pro bono client in northeast D.C. Mary’s House is the brainchild of Dr. Imani Woody, who plans to transform her childhood home into affordable senior housing friendly to lesbian, gay, bixseual, or transgender (LGBT) residents. This is the first LGBT-friendly senior housing… Continue Reading

By Mary Grace Folwell on July 29, 2014 Posted in Government-Assisted Housing,Policy,Senior Housing,Supportive ServicesNPR aired a story Monday morning reporting that New York has allocated $260 million in State Medicaid funds for supportive housing and exploring the question of whether housing counts as health care. Right now, Medicaid and Medicare dollars can only rarely be used for housing costs. However, the housing-as-health-care camp supports using health care dollars to… Continue Reading

Stay Connected

About the Housing Group

Ballard Spahr's housing practice
is nationally recognized for its innovative and practical approaches in the development and financing of housing and community development projects nationwide. Our experience includes the representation of more than 75 housing authorities, the closing of hundreds of bond transactions as bond and underwriter's counsel, and involvement in thousands of tax-credit transactions. We routinely represent borrowers and more than a dozen lenders under all of the multifamily programs of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and HUD.